This area of France is well known for the river Dordogne. However there are two other major river systems. The Vienne and the Charente. The Charente starts about 30 mins away from us before winding its way to the coast many kilometres away. The Vienne is a beautiful river, mostly slow flowing and picturesque. The Vienne just outside Limoges

Just down the lane from our farmhouse in the River Tardoire. A 1st category river. A small brook for the most part with all of the features that you would expect from a small stream. It is stocked with beautiful brown trout throughout the season** by our local fishing club. Although difficult to fish with the fly for the most part, there are a few clear areas where you can cast to the trout. It also has a lovely little picnic area for partners who would rather sit by the river and read a book or just enjoy the peace and quiet with a bottle of red wine.

St Mathieu Lake which is just 10 mins from us. A 14 hectare lake with artificial beach, lots of small bays and a restaurant/bar which serves a delicious 3 course meal with wine for around 10 euros.Hmmmm.

A stocked fishery just 20 mins away into the Dordogne region. The lake is stocked by the owner who also runs a fish farm. This is the farm that supplies our local river Tardoire. Tranquility doesn't come much better than this. Easy casting from 2 banks with a fly with roll casting being the option of the other.

1st ( Premiere) Category Lakes and Rivers are predominantly inhabited by Salmonids.

2nd (Deuxieme) Category Lakes and Rivers are predominantly inhabited by coarse fish.

A note for Grayling anglers. You can fish for these Ladies of the Stream May 21-Sept 18th on 1st Category waters and May21st-December 31st on 2nd Category waters.

There is no closed season on most 2nd Category Lakes and Rivers.

In the rivers local to us we have Carp, Pike, Zander, Perch and others.

Apart from the rivers there are lots of lakes and pools to visit. The Federation of Anglers holiday permit* gives you access to fourteen 1st Category Lakes and twelve 2nd category lakes.

A website you may wish to visit is our local Haute-Vienne fishing site.www.federation-peche87.com

For details of flies etc visit www. Peche-Truite.com. A superb site with english available from the left hand side of the opening page.

Visit www.ifrance.com/peche87 to discover our local areas angling spots. This site is a goldmine of information. It covers seasons, fish to catch, minimum lengths to take etc. For the cooks amongst you, see the Recettes link off the main page. The areas mentioned are all within a few miles.

More info on fishing Haute Vienne Pêche dans le Limousin. A superb site covering all types of fish and fishing in our region

To view a site to which we contribute on a regular basis with Limousin information, stories and forum click the link below.
www.frenchentree.com/france-limousin-fishing . Feel free to add your stories/anecdotes/questions etc to this new information forum for all anglers.

We will be discovering new venues for 2006. Indeed thanks to the kindness of some friends we now have access to a small private lake for tuition in casting and flyfishing.

This page will be updated on a regular basis this year.

* Currently holiday fishing licences are only available from June 1st- September 30th.

These cost 32 euros for 15 consecutive days, available at our local Tabac and are a necessity to fish legally in the region. There are some lakes that if privately owned do not require anglers to be in possession of a permit. As we find these I will update the site accordingly.

** Season for fishing the Tardoire is March 12th- September 18th

If you would like any further information, please e.mail.tony@flyfishinginfrance.com

Please keep revisiting the site. As we progress with the project I shall be updating the site on a regular basis.